Fostering a Disability-Friendly Campus: What You Can Do

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Disability Services & Campus Administration

While the Disability Services (DS) office seems to be to obvious choice for developing a disability-friendly environment, it can't function effectively without the backing of campus administration. Consistent messaging supporting diversity and commitment to accessibility from central administration, Academic Affairs and Student Affairs bolsters the work assigned to, and generated by DS.

Communication to and from DS about policies, procedures, initiatives and programs is key to informing the campus and strengthening collaborative work.

Ideas for Disability Services offices:

Keep up to date on current developments in disability law and trends in working with students from AHEAD and other resources

Disseminate periodic messages to campus with information such as number and type of students served, accommodation tips, news about assistive technology, etc.

Develop or update DS office websites with easy to understand explanations for policies and procedures

Administration:

Because physical and programmatic accessibility cuts across all campus environments, consider a Disability or Accessibility Resources link on your university homepage. It can connect to the DS office as well as readily-available resources for families and visitors, adjunct instructors or researchers who need accessibility for parking, events, buildings, campus resources, etc.

Share reports and messages from DS, as well as disability interest groups of NASPA, ACPA, and other professional associations to divisions and units.

The NCCSD is based with the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD). Please see caveats on the home page about assuming the NCCSD, AHEAD or the US Dept. of Education agree with all content on linked pages, and we can't guarantee the accessibility of other sites.

All images are from Bigstock.com or public domain except where noted. The material on this website is available in alternative formats upon request. Questions, concerns or requests about accessibility should be sent to nccsd@ahead.org.